Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday stayed the state government’s decision to cancel the 11th and 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission examinations and their corresponding appointments, granting major interim relief to newly recruited officers whose positions were put in jeopardy. The interim order was issued by Justice Deepak Roshan during the hearing of multiple petitions filed by affected appointees challenging the validity of the mass cancellations.
The legal challenge follows the state administration’s decision to scrap dozens of recruitment examinations conducted by state testing bodies, citing findings from an ongoing Crime Investigation Department inquiry into testing vendor TSR Data Processing Private Limited. The cancelled list encompassed recruitment drives across key public positions, including civil judges, deputy collectors, assistant professors, dental doctors, assistant engineers, drug inspectors, and polytechnic lecturers.
Alongside the exam cancellations, Chief Minister Hemant Soren had ordered a comprehensive investigation into government recruitment tests conducted dating back to 2014, while directing that all testing activities tied to the vendor be annulled. While the government’s move had prompted widespread celebrations among agitating student organizations demanding systemic reforms, it triggered immediate pushback from successfully appointed personnel who argued that merit-based appointments should not be overturned without individual hearings.
